The Milk Carton Kids, Making The Most Of Two Voices

When Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan ditched their solo careers to form The Milk Carton Kids, they discovered that they had a lot to teach each other. They also had a plan: to give their music away in order to find their audience. It worked remarkably well. Now, their third album, The Ash & Clay, is out on a regular label — no freebies this time around — and they're playing to packed houses across the U.S. and Europe.

What they have is wonderful songwriting, performed immaculately, and that's what we'll hear in their performance on this installment of World Cafe. They also tell us how playing together has inspired both of them in their songwriting. Listen for Pattengale's "Memphis," a particularly telling song about America.